When Collaboration Breaks Down

Group work can be frustrating. What should you do if you find yourself yoked to a bunch of slackers who won't pull their weight on an important project? Here's what I wrote to one of my students who complained to me that she had done the lion's share of the work on a group project for my class.

"What you experienced is, of course, similar to what you might face in collaborative writing situations in the "real world"--except that in the real world sometimes the stakes are much higher than a few points on a grade.

I think there are three basic options in situations like this: 1) report the problem to your superiors and engage their help in managing it or 2) keep plugging along, trying to do the best you can on your own, or 3) confront the problem: lay it on the table for your group and make a call-to-action to fix it. In my experience, Option 1 often works in the short-run but can misfire in the long-run. because it creates extra work for your superiors and it associates you, in their minds, with a problem rather than a solution. You chose Option 2, and I think that is often the best choice in situations like the one you faced here--where deadlines are looming, the stakes are relatively low and the collaboration is short-term. But in the real-world, Option 3 is often best. It requires lots of creativity and solid communication skills, but it long run, the effort you put into getting a group back on track can pay off, and when you take the initiative to do so, you can showcase your leadership and communication skills (turning a problem into an opportunity). So at least you can chalk this up as a learning experience, maybe? "

Summer 2011

Back for another round of teaching English 255, Public Writing. Frankly, this course is a real bear to teach for me because--- well---what IS public writing anyway? And whatever it is, is it teachable? In a single semester?

So I think I need to start my planning for the course this summer with a definition: Public writing is writing FOR the people, BY the people.

Any writing that we do to serve and sustain the communities we identify with counts as public writing. Public writing, unlike academic writing, i does real work, enhancing, motivating, advocating, informing, promoting, educating, directing and coordinating action tin a community. And unlike private professional writing, it serves the collective, not the individual. It's a form of citizenship.